The defendants behind an alleged credit card interest rate reduction scam are banned from selling debt relief services and from telemarketing any goods or services.

A federal court judge in Florida approved and signed a stipulated order against Innovative Wealth Builders, Inc., (IWB) and its three Florida-based principals: Carly Janene Pelland (also known as Carly Zurita), Sheryl Leigh Lopez, and Tamara Dawn Johnson. The defendants agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that they falsely promised to substantially reduce consumers’ credit card interest rates and save them thousands of dollars on their credit card debts.

According to the FTC’s complaint, the settling defendants, IWB and its three principals, violated the FTC Act by misrepresenting credit card interest rate reduction services, misrepresenting refund policies, and billing consumers without authorization. The complaint also alleges the defendants violated the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule by misrepresenting the debt relief services they were selling, charging a fee before providing these services, and billing consumers without their express informed consent.

The stipulated order also prohibits the settling defendants from making any material misrepresentations in connection with advertising, marketing, promotion, offering for sale, or sale of any financial related product or service. The order includes a $9.9 million judgment against IWB and its three principals.